Held on June 5, 2026, in Lagos, the conference brought together accomplished female technology professionals, industry leaders, innovators, aspiring young professionals, and secondary school students for engaging discussions aimed at inspiring more women and girls to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

As part of the event, Ayomide Shodipo, Engineering Lead at Leadway Group, joined a panel of industry experts to share practical insights on navigating the technology industry, building successful careers, and embracing innovation in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. The panel encouraged participants to explore opportunities within STEM fields and pursue their ambitions with confidence and determination.

Speaking during the conference, Shodipo emphasised the importance of exposing young women to technology opportunities early in their educational and professional journeys.

“At Leadway, we believe meaningful progress begins with creating opportunities for the next generation to see what is possible. Supporting Engineer Her Future aligns with our commitment to empowering young people, particularly young women, with the inspiration, exposure, and access they need to pursue careers in technology and innovation. By investing in platforms like this, we are not only supporting individual aspirations but also contributing to the development of a more inclusive, diverse, and future-ready workforce for Nigeria,” she said.

Leadway’s sponsorship of Engineer Her Future 1.0 reflects the Group’s broader commitment to advancing education, innovation, youth development, inclusion, and women’s empowerment. Through Herssured, its female-focused community, Leadway continues to build strategic partnerships with women-led initiatives, including She Leads Africa and Heels and Tech, to provide women with access to resources, opportunities, and supportive networks that enable them to thrive.

By consistently supporting initiatives that promote female empowerment and professional development, Leadway remains committed to driving sustainable social and economic progress while helping shape a more inclusive future for Nigeria’s technology ecosystem.

Leadway Group is one of Nigeria’s leading non-banking financial services groups, offering insurance, asset management, pensions, healthcare, and other financial solutions designed to help individuals and businesses achieve their goals. With a legacy spanning more than five decades, the Group continues to focus on innovation, excellence, and creating lasting value for its customers, partners, and communities.

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The award, presented during the second edition of the Nairametrics Capital Market Awards, honours insurance companies that have demonstrated excellence across key performance indicators, including profitability, premium growth, return on equity, claims efficiency, and market share expansion.

According to Nairametrics, the selection process was guided by a comprehensive evaluation framework designed to assess financial strength, operational efficiency, and long-term value creation. AIICO emerged as the leading performer among its peers, reflecting its ability to maintain growth momentum while navigating an increasingly competitive operating environment.

The recognition highlights AIICO’s consistent execution of strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening its market position and enhancing customer value. With more than six decades of operations, the company has continued to adapt to evolving industry dynamics while maintaining a strong focus on innovation, operational excellence, and customer relevance.

A significant milestone in the company’s transformation journey was the unveiling of its refreshed brand identity in December 2025. The rebranding marked a strategic move to modernise AIICO’s image and strengthen its appeal among younger consumers, while reinforcing the trust and confidence it has built with existing customers over the years.

Since the launch of the new identity, AIICO has increased its visibility across traditional and digital channels, supporting broader efforts to deepen customer engagement and reinforce its leadership position within Nigeria’s insurance sector.

The award comes at a time when the industry is facing heightened competition, evolving customer expectations, and increased regulatory scrutiny. AIICO’s strong showing across the award’s assessment criteria demonstrates its ability to balance profitability with operational efficiency while delivering sustainable value to stakeholders.

Held on June 5, 2026, at the Civic Centre in Lagos, the Nairametrics Capital Market Awards brought together regulators, investors, policymakers, and corporate leaders to celebrate organisations contributing to the growth and development of Nigeria’s capital market ecosystem.

For AIICO, the latest recognition adds to a growing list of industry accolades and reinforces its reputation as one of Nigeria’s most resilient and forward-looking insurance institutions, committed to driving innovation and creating long-term value in the financial services sector.

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The project, commissioned recently, reflects Cornerstone’s vision of protecting lives and property by promoting health, and sustainability. It also aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation and SDG 13 –Climate Action.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Cordelia Ekeocha, who represented the MD/CEO Stephen Alangbo. said the initiative emphasises its commitment to supporting communities and promoting sustainability. We believe that all our initiatives should have a lasting impact in the lives of the recipients.

The CIPLCF is committed to promoting community support, education, and health & safety, hence this borehole project is significant.

Receiving the project on behalf of the NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (Rtd), the Director of Technical Services, DCG Ambrose Umoru, commended the Foundation for the donation, noting that the borehole would provide reliable access to clean water for the agency.

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Speaking as a panelist during the regulatory session at the 52nd African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference in Cairo, Egypt, Omosehin urged African insurance regulators to adopt the mindset of disruptors and “co-creators” alongside market innovators to effectively manage risks before they become systemic threats.

The panel, moderated by Tope Smart, Chairman of NEM Insurance Plc, featured regulatory counterparts from Ghana, Morocco, Namibia, and Bermuda.

Addressing the audience, Smart emphasized that increasing insurance penetration across the continent requires highly intentional and creative innovation to accelerate market growth.

Omosehin acknowledged that the market frequently outpaces regulators technologically, making a collaborative approach essential. To address this, he revealed that NAICOM has established an internal innovation hub to test ideas internally before deployment, alongside a regulatory sandbox that allows operators to test novel products on limited consumer segments under strict guidelines.

When evaluating new insurance concepts, Omosehin stated that NAICOM filters ideas through three primary criteria: the simplicity of the solution for ordinary citizens, the efficiency of 48-hour consumer feedback mechanisms, and the operator’s financial capacity to pay claims if things go wrong.

The commissioner highlighted a shift from rule-based to risk- and principle-based supervision in Nigeria, enabled by new legislation. This approach allows the commission to deploy regulatory resources proportionally, separating high-exposure entities, such as those holding multi-billion naira annuity portfolios, from low-risk micro-insurers focused on smallholder farmers and artisans.

To expand distribution beyond the traditional broker and agent channels—which currently generate over 70 percent of Nigeria’s insurance business—Omosehin pointed to the continent’s vast mobile phone and mobile wallet user base. With over 500 million mobile subscribers across Africa, NAICOM is aggressively pursuing authorization frameworks for mobile distribution and embedded insurance.

Omosehin noted that past regulatory friction between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), NAICOM, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over jurisdictional boundaries has been resolved through ongoing inter-agency engagement, paving the way for unified financial inclusion initiatives.

As part of this modernization drive, Omosehin announced that NAICOM has licensed its first specialized insurtech entity under its new legal framework, affirming that the regulator is prepared to manage the accompanying risks through protective guardrails.

The commissioner also stressed the importance of relaxing regulatory rules for micro-insurance and Takaful (Islamic insurance) models to better capture low-income segments. He advocated for the involvement of community-based groups, cooperatives, and religious institutions to drive adoption, while praising grassroots penetration campaigns recently launched by industry bodies like the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).

While Smart emphasized that African stakeholders must be highly intentional and creative with innovation to drive market expansion.

He noted that the industry must depart from traditional practices and introduce novel solutions to accelerate insurance penetration across the continent.

Smart, who is a past president of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO), added that intentional innovation remains the key driver required to change the narrative and boost insurance acceptance on the continent.

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Created by the strategic communications agency Creato Urban, the flagship event has evolved since its 2021 debut into a critical cross-industry platform designed to accelerate digital transformation, boost customer acquisition, and foster collaboration across the regional insurance landscape.

This year’s milestone event, themed “Building Insurance That Connects,” marks a fundamental shift in the industry’s digital evolution.

Rather than debating the theoretical benefits of technology, IMT 5.0 will focus strictly on the practical embedding of cutting-edge solutions into everyday insurance products, regulatory processes, and customer experiences. Convener Odion Aleobua emphasized that the conference comes at a critical juncture for a newly reformed and recapitalized insurance sector.

The core objective of IMT 5.0 is to bridge the existing gaps between technological innovation and consumer trust, ensuring that ambitious digital ideas translate into tangible impact and genuine financial inclusion for the people they are designed to serve.

To address these pressing integration challenges, the convention will bring together an interconnected ecosystem of founders, CEOs, domain experts, policymakers, and customers.

Attendees can expect a high-impact agenda featuring keynote presentations, technology showcases, and panel discussions dedicated to the forces reshaping African insurance.

The dialogue will directly confront the realities of deployment—moving from isolated concepts to collaborative, market-ready solutions driven by artificial intelligence, digitization, and customer-centric product design to define the future of the continent’s insurance landscape.

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Speaking under the event’s central focus on economic development, regional leaders argued that Africa cannot successfully scale up its manufacturing value chains or transition away from exporting raw commodities without building a robust, domestic infrastructure for risk absorption.

Delivering the keynote paper, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President of Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank, highlighted the stark reality facing the continent’s industrial ambitions. Across most of Africa, insurance penetration remains frozen at just 2% to 3%, compared to a global average of 6.8%. Furthermore, Africa’s entire continental reinsurance market accounts for a mere 1.6% of the global total.

Awani stressed that these deficits are directly choking industrial expansion, resulting in delayed infrastructure projects, higher financing costs, and a problematic status quo where too much African risk is ceded to foreign markets.

“Research shows the strong link between higher insurance penetration and higher manufacturing value-added per capita,” Awani said. “Put simply, if a country has industrialized, it means it has learned to manage its own risk.”

To support the industrial goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which spans 1.5 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion, Awani called on policymakers to view insurance as a fundamental pillar of trade and project finance rather than a peripheral service.

She noted that the continent faces an annual infrastructure funding deficit of nearly $90 billion. To bridge this gap, she urged global and regional insurers to mobilize their balance sheets, noting that directing just 0.5% of the world’s $42 trillion in insurance assets toward African infrastructure would transform the continent’s industrial capacity.

The conference also highlighted how national-level regulatory reforms can successfully unlock capital for broader economic growth. Mahmoud Farid, Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Trade, speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister, detailed Egypt’s recent four-year regulatory overhaul.  

Farid pointed to a previously controversial mandate by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) that forced insurance companies and private pension funds to invest a strict minimum percentage into listed equities. While initially met with industry pushback, Farid revealed the strategy has successfully energized local capital markets. Thanks to the influx of institutional insurance capital, Egypt is now preparing for four to five new private sector Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) alongside major state Listings like Misr Life Insurance.  

By tightening governance, driving digitization, and mandating equity investments, Egypt’s reforms demonstrated how a structured insurance sector can directly feed the wider financial ecosystem required for industrial investment.

Reinforcing the social necessity of these economic strategies, Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs, H.E. Mohammed Abu Bakr, concluded that a strong insurance and reinsurance network ensures that individual citizens and businesses do not have to shoulder the volatile risks of economic transformation alone.

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She disclosed this while delivering the keynote paper at the 52nd annual conference of the African Insurance Association (AIO),ongoing in Cairo, Egypt, that Africa currently attracts roughly $80 billion in actual annual infrastructure spending against estimated needs of almost $170 billion. “This leaves a financing deficit of nearly $90 billion, which costs the continent up to 2% of foregone GDP growth per year. To reverse this trend, Awani argued that project funding must be protected by robust risk-transfer mechanisms to unlock institutional investment.

“The gap will not be closed by capital alone,” Awani said. “It will be closed by capital that can be insured, capital that can be syndicated and held with confidence.”

Across most of Africa, insurance penetration remains stubbornly low at just 2% to 3%, compared to a global average of 6.8%. In 2024, only South Africa (11.5%) and Namibia (7%) exceeded the global benchmark. Furthermore, Africa’s entire continental reinsurance market wrote just over $6 billion in premiums—barely 1.6% of the global total.

Awani stressed that these low metrics directly harm continental development, causing projects to be delayed, financing to be priced higher, and too much African risk to be ceded abroad. She noted that while the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has established a massive economic framework of 1.5 billion people with a combined $3.4 trillion GDP, its ultimate goals of industrialization and expanded value chains cannot be realized without local risk absorption.

Globally, insurers hold approximately $42 trillion in assets. Awani proposed that channeling even half a percentage point of that capital toward African infrastructure would begin to fundamentally close the continental financing gap.

The strategy is already gaining traction among development finance institutions (DFIs). DFI participation in African private infrastructure projects shifted significantly from 2022 to 2023, with insurers and export credit agencies increasingly becoming the syndication partners of choice to secure bankability through political risk, credit, construction, and operational interruption insurance.

The conference also spotlighted successful domestic overhauls, with Egyptian Minister of Investment and Trade Mahmoud Farid highlighting Egypt’s recent insurance sector reforms. Farid detailed how a previously controversial Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) mandate forcing insurance companies and private pension funds to invest a minimum percentage into listed equities has ultimately stabilized the local market and catalyzed four to five upcoming private sector IPOs.

Supporting the drive for wider safety nets, Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs, H.E. Mohammed Abu Bakr, stated that the reinsurance and insurance sectors are vital to ensuring no individual has to carry the burdens of economic risk alone.

Concluding her address, Awani urged African policymakers to stop viewing insurance as a peripheral service and instead integrate it into the core infrastructure of trade and project finance, noting a direct statistical link between high insurance penetration and manufacturing value-added per capita.

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During the meeting, shareholders commended the company’s strong financial performance and approved all resolutions presented.

In a robust show of confidence in the company’s growth trajectory and strategic direction, shareholders approved the payment of a dividend of 12 kobo per share, amounting to a total payout of ₦4,392,633,121.44.

The meeting also marked a significant evolution in the company’s governance structure with the appointment of three accomplished professionals to the Board as Non-Executive Directors.

Tunde Mabawonku joins as a Non-Executive Director, bringing over two decades of experience across banking, finance, strategy, and corporate services, with a strong background in digital and retail financial services.

Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, HCIB, also appointed as a Non-Executive Director, contributes deep expertise in capital markets, energy finance, and risk governance, with extensive experience operating across multi-jurisdictional environments.

Sadiq Mohammed joins as an Independent Non-Executive Director, offering over three decades of leadership across asset management, pensions, infrastructure, and investment advisory, alongside significant boardroom experience.

Collectively, these appointments further strengthen the depth, diversity, and strategic capability of AIICO’s Board, positioning the company for sustained growth and enhanced governance.

In addition, Mr. Olalekan Akinyanmi was announced as the new Chairman of the Board, succeeding Mr. Kundan Sainani. Mr. Akinyanmi is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LEKOIL Nigeria Limited, an Africa-focused oil exploration and production company.

With over 30 years of experience in the global energy sector, he has led significant capital raises and landmark projects, bringing strong leadership and strategic insight to his new role as Chairman.

Commenting on the outcomes of the AGM, the MD/CEO, Mr. Babatunde Fajemirokun, stated that the company is deeply grateful to its shareholders and investors for their continued confidence and support.

He noted that their trust remains a strong validation of AIICO’s strategic direction and business progress.

He emphasized that strengthening the Board reflects a deliberate commitment to robust governance, disciplined oversight, and long-term value creation.

With the depth of experience and diversity now represented at the Board level, the company is well-positioned to enhance its decision-making and sustain its market leadership.

He added that as the company continues to evolve as a financial services group, the focus remains on building a resilient, forward-looking institution that consistently delivers sustainable value to all stakeholders.

AIICO Insurance is a leading composite insurer in Nigeria, with a 63-year record of accomplishment in delivering quality service to its clients. Founded in 1963, AIICO provides life and general insurance, health insurance, and investment management services to create and protect wealth for individuals, families, and corporate customers.

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Ahmed received the award in the Non-Members Diamond Category, a recognition reserved for distinguished leaders whose work promotes the values of professionalism, integrity, accountability, and sound corporate governance beyond the accounting profession.

The award was presented by ICAN through the Office of its Registrar and Chief Executive, underscoring Ahmed’s growing reputation as a business leader committed to institutional excellence, financial discipline, and sustainable value creation.

Reacting to the recognition, AXA Mansard’s General Counsel and Human Resources Director, Omowunmi Mabel-Adewusi, described the award as a testament to Ahmed’s leadership style and commitment to excellence.

She said the recognition reflects the impact of his stewardship at AXA Mansard, where he has championed a culture of innovation, customer-centricity, and strong governance.

According to Mabel-Adewusi, under Ahmed’s leadership, AXA Mansard has remained focused on building a resilient, purpose-driven, and customer-focused organisation.

She noted that it is not surprising that these qualities continue to attract recognition from respected institutions such as ICAN, reinforcing the company’s belief that responsible leadership and ethical business practices remain critical to long-term corporate success.

Speaking on the honour, Ahmed expressed appreciation to ICAN, noting that the recognition goes beyond personal achievement. He stated that he views the award not only as a personal recognition but also as a tribute to the values of discipline, trust, and stewardship that are essential for building enduring institutions in Nigeria.

Ahmed added that the recognition serves as motivation to continue driving innovation, industry transformation, and positive societal impact through the company’s operations and initiatives.

He expressed gratitude to his colleagues at AXA Mansard and everyone who has contributed to the journey, stating that the honour encourages them to continue pushing the boundaries of excellence and creating value for stakeholders.

Industry stakeholders noted that ICAN’s decision to honour Ahmed reflects the growing role of corporate leaders in promoting transparency, accountability, and sound governance across sectors of the economy.

As one of Nigeria’s foremost professional bodies, ICAN has played a pivotal role in advancing ethical standards and financial reporting practices, while recognising individuals whose contributions support the development of strong institutions and sustainable business growth. For AXA Mansard, the recognition is expected to further strengthen its reputation as a leading insurance and financial services company committed to responsible leadership, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.

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The enhanced online platform is designed to offer customers a faster, more intuitive, and seamless digital experience, making it easier to engage with the company’s insurance products and services remotely at any time.

During this initial phase of deployment, the platform enables users to purchase selected General Insurance products directly online, establish secure personal accounts, and navigate dedicated customer dashboards built to simplify policy management.

The strategic overhaul aligns with Mutual Benefits’ broader vision of leveraging modern technology to deepen insurance penetration across Nigeria, elevate consumer convenience, and provide digital-first solutions that cater to the evolving needs of retail and corporate clients.

Gideon Ayogu, Head of Marketing & Communications at Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, stated that the launch represents a significant stride toward building a highly connected and customer-centric insurance ecosystem. Ayogu emphasized that the upgraded portal is more than a simple digital facelift, noting that it reflects a core commitment to making insurance simpler, more accessible, and highly responsive to contemporary consumer demands. He added that as market expectations increasingly shift toward speed and self-service, the company is actively investing in the digital capabilities necessary to enhance the overall customer journey.

The overhauled website features a completely upgraded user interface, streamlined navigation mechanics, full mobile responsiveness, and an updated product information architecture backed by a secure account management environment.

Mutual Benefits disclosed that the current release is merely the first phase of a broader digital roadmap, with additional product lines and automated self-service functionalities already in active development for future rollouts.
The ongoing soft launch period will serve as an opportunity for the insurer to gather direct user feedback and optimize the platform’s performance to meet the exact standards of its policyholders.

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